Little by Little Beag air Bheag
Crodh-laoigh nam Bodach
This is a lovely wee song about an old man and his milking cows. This is a milking song and was used to keep the singer motivated when they were milking the cows. This version is sung by Josie Duncan. Watch the video then learn the song line-by-line. This video was originally filmed for LearnGaelic’s popular social media strand ‘Learn a Gaelic song’ and the format is slightly different.
We’ll start with learning the first line of chorus.
The old man’s milking cows
Now we have learnt what the words mean. Why don’t we learn how to sing the line?
The old man’s milking cows
The melody of the second line goes:
The old man’s milking cows
The melody of the third line is:
The old man’s milking cows
In the final line of the chorus we find out where the old man’s cows are.
Being reared in the glen
And the melody of the line is:
Being reared in the glen
If you fancy adding the grace note, go for it:
Being reared in the glen
Are you feeling confident? Let’s put all the lines together and start to work on the complete chorus:
Crodh-laoigh nam bodach
Crodh-laoigh nam bodach
Crodh-laoigh nam bodach
Gan togail ri gleann.
The old man’s milking cows
The old man’s milking cows
The old man’s milking cows
Being reared in the glen
How are you getting on? Let’s learn the verse:
If so, I couldn't care less
Let’s sing the line:
If so, I couldn't care less
Again, this line is sung three times. The second line is
If so, I couldn't care less
Let’s put the third line to the music!
If so, I couldn't care less
The fourth line is:
My cows are not there
Let’s sing with Josie:
My cows are not there
Let’s sing the whole verse:
Ma tha, mo thogair
Ma tha, mo thogair
Ma tha, mo thogair
Chan eil mo chrodh ann.
If so, I couldn't care less
If so, I couldn't care less
If so, I couldn't care less
My cows are not there
How are you getting on? Let’s sing the second chorus:
Crodh-laoigh nam bodach
Crodh-laoigh nam bodach
Crodh-laoigh nam bodach
Gan togail ri gleann.
The old man’s milking cows
The old man’s milking cows
The old man’s milking cows
Being reared in the glen